AMHERST, NY (WKBW) — A new boxing program at the Amherst Senior Center is helping people fight back against Parkinson's disease.
New York State Assembly Member Karen McMahon secured $15,000 for the new boxing equipment last year, allowing leaders to cut the ribbon and officially open the program on Thursday.
“I want to thank our partners, the town of Amherst, and the Parkinson’s Foundation, for their assistance in bringing this important program here to Amherst,” McMahon said.
David Morlock of Amherst was diagnosed with Parkinson's last year, but he says the program is making a big difference.
"It really brings everything together. And I feel whole again," Morlock said.
Morlock described how exercise has changed his path with medicine.
“This group has been the single most beneficial part of my treatment plan, bar nothing, including medications," Morlock noted. "There's improvement in my balance. I have had less likelihood of falling and less incidents of walking into things and bumping into things actually after I started exercising. I was able to discontinue medication. I'll have to resume it at some point, but right now I can be medication-free.”
Delphine Szczesniak of Amherst tells me she started the boxing program about a month ago.
"It feels good that you can do it," Szczesniak said. "You can do 20 things wrong. They're going to focus on the one thing you did right, which you know, makes you feel a whole lot better and makes you want to come and do more.”
When I asked if she had noticed any changes for herself, Szczesniak noted the physical benefits of the classes.
"There are days that I'm much more balanced, and that often comes after a session of boxing or some other exercise," Szczesniak replied.
WATCH: How the Amherst Senior Center is fighting Parkinson’s with a boxing 'punch'
Chris Jamele with the Parkinson's Foundation of New York explained how beneficial the boxing program is for those living with the disease.
"What Parkinson's wants to do is — it wants to restrict your range of motion. It wants to keep your muscles from doing what they normally do...and boxing helps expand that range of motion," Jamele explained. “When somebody has parkinson's, it's difficult to move. It’s a challenge to move, but movement is so vitally important.”
Nearly 90,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with Parkinson's every year.
"The disease is the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease in the world right now," Jamele said. “Over the last 25 years or so, the rate of diagnosis has increased eight times faster than Alzheimer’s.”
Members of the Amherst Senior Center will be able to sign up for the program next month.
April is also Parkinson's Awareness Month.
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